Kendi, Ibram X. (1982-…), is an American author, historian, and activist. Kendi is a major advocate for antiracism. A central idea of antiracism is that it is not enough for people to simply avoid racism. Rather, people must actively look for and work to eradicate racism in their own beliefs and in society’s institutions. Kendi is known for his groundbreaking work as a scholar of race studies and Black history. His writings explore the idea of antiracism and the history of racism in America.
Ibram Henry Rogers was born in New York City on Aug. 13, 1982. He staged his first antiracist protest as a child in the third grade. He noticed that his teacher called on white students while ignoring nonwhite students. He witnessed her treating Black students disrespectfully. He protested his teacher’s racist behavior by refusing to return to class. In 2004, he received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and African American studies from Florida A&M University. He received a Ph.D. degree in African American studies from Temple University in 2010. He married the American physician Sadiqa Edmonds in 2013. That year, the couple changed their last name to Kendi, and Ibram changed his middle name to Xolani.
Kendi has written several books focusing on racism, antiracism, and the Black American experience. His first book, The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965-1972, was published in 2012. In 2016, Kendi became the youngest person ever to receive the National Book Award for nonfiction for his book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (2016). This book was adapted for middle school and teen readers by Jason Reynolds, a popular American author of books for young people. The adaptation is called Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (2020). Kendi wrote an introduction for the adaptation. Kendi also wrote How to Be an Antiracist (2019). Following the May 2020 death of the Black American George Floyd at the hands of police, the book attracted widespread attention for its thought-provoking discussion of racism, racial inequality, and social justice. Kendi also wrote the children’s picture book Antiracist Baby (2020), and How to Raise an Antiracist (2022) for parents.
Kendi is a humanities professor at Boston University. He is also the founding director of the university’s Center for Antiracist Research.
